Smart self cell configuration for aerial base station over 4g/5g network

ABSTRACT

An architecture for facilitating smart physical cell identity (PCI) configuration for aerial network equipment that can used in terrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE wireless networking paradigms. A method can comprise: receiving, from core network equipment, an instruction to travel from a first geographic location to a second geographic location, wherein the second geographic location has been determined, by the core network equipment, as representing a hotspot location; traveling from the first geographic location to the hotspot location; based on crossing a boundary associated with the hotspot location, initiating execution of a user equipment relay process that transitions the aerial user equipment from being user equipment to being aerial network equipment; and transmitting to the core network equipment that the user equipment relay process has been successfully initiated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed subject matter provides a smart physical cell identity(PCI) configuration system and method for aerial network equipment thatcan used in terrestrial 4th Generation (4G) and/or 5th Generation (5G)Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networking paradigms. The disclosedsystems and methods overcome PCI conflicts with existing terrestrialnetwork networking architectures.

BACKGROUND

Mobile network operator (MNO) entities, such as a wireless networkoperator, can use aerial networking equipment (e.g., aerial base stationequipment, aerial access point equipment, aerial eNodeB equipment,aerial gNodeB equipment, and the like) to offload traffic fromterrestrial (or land based) networking architectures. Use of aerialnetworking equipment can ameliorate high traffic volumes due, forexample, to special events (e.g., music concerts, political and/orbusiness conventions, tradeshows, sporting events, disaster recovery,etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a system that provides physical cellidentity values for aerial network equipment in terrestrial 4G and/or 5Gnetworking applications, in accordance with aspects of the subjectdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a depiction of a further system that provides physical cellidentity values for aerial network equipment in terrestrial 4G and/or 5GLTE networking applications, in accordance with aspects of the subjectdisclosure.

FIG. 3 provides depiction of a time sequence chart for the provision ofphysical cell identity values for aerial network equipment interrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE networking applications, in accordance withaspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 4 provides illustration of a flow chart or method for the provisionof physical cell identity values for aerial network equipment interrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE networking applications, in accordance withaspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 5 provides illustration of a flow chart or method for the provisionof physical cell identity values for aerial network equipment interrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE networking applications, in accordance withaspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 6 provides illustration of a flow chart or method for the provisionof physical cell identity values for aerial network equipment interrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE networking applications, in accordance withaspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 7 provides illustration of a flow chart or method for the provisionof physical cell identity values for aerial network equipment interrestrial 4G and/or 5G LTE networking applications, in accordance withaspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 8 provides illustration of a EUTRAN cell global identity (ECGI)that can be used as a unique identifier across networks globally, inaccordance with aspects of the subject disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a mobile networkplatform to implement and exploit various features or aspects of thesubject disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system operable toexecute the disclosed systems and methods in accordance with anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the subject disclosure. It may be evident, however,that the subject disclosure may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the subjectdisclosure.

The disclosed systems and methods, in accordance with variousembodiments, provide a system, apparatus, equipment, or devicecomprising: a processor, and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitateperformance of operations. The operations can comprise receiving, fromcore network equipment, an instruction to travel from a first geographiclocation to a second geographic location, wherein the second geographiclocation has been determined, by the core network equipment, asrepresenting a hotspot location; in response to the receiving, travelingfrom the first geographic location to the hotspot location; based onarriving at the hotspot location initiating execution of a userequipment relay process that transitions the aerial user equipment frombeing user equipment to being aerial hybrid user and network equipment;and transmitting to the core network equipment that the user equipmentrelay process has been successfully initiated.

Additional operations can include: receiving, from the core networkequipment, an instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment to reject attachment requests received from userequipment located in the hotspot area; receiving, from the core networkequipment, an instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment to reject handover requests received from userequipment located in the hotspot area; receiving, from the core networkequipment, an instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment to reject attachment requests received from networkequipment located in the hotspot area; and receiving, from the corenetwork equipment, a second instruction that directs the aerial hybriduser and network equipment to reject handover requests received fromnetwork equipment located in the hotspot area.

The operations can further comprise: receiving, from the core networkequipment, an instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment to transmit international mobile subscriber identitydata associated with user equipment that attempts attachment or handoverto the aerial hybrid user and network equipment; receiving, from thecore network equipment, an instruction that directs the aerial hybriduser and network equipment to transmit source-cell-ID data associatedwith network equipment that attempts handover to the aerial hybrid userand network equipment. In regard to the foregoing, it should be observedthat user equipment that attempts attachment to the aerial hybrid userand network equipment can fail and then reattempt the same attachmentprocedure with terrestrial network equipment which may succeed. The userequipment may then attempt handover to the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment and fail again.

Additional operations can comprise: collecting international mobilesubscriber identity data associated with user equipment that attemptsattachment or attempts handover to the aerial hybrid user and networkequipment and collecting the corresponding source-cell-ID data fromassociated neighboring network equipment, and cross-correlating theinternational mobile subscriber identity data and the source-cell-IDdata from associated neighboring network equipment data to generate aunique list of neighboring network equipment located in hotspot area. Inthis regard it should be noted that in order effectuate its goals,aerial hybrid user and network equipment needs to collect as many PCIs(e.g., source-cell-IDs) as possible to identify which PCIs have beenused in a hotspot area in order to identify and select an unused PCI.Generally, international mobile subscriber identity (imsi) data is usedto prove that UE that was rejected by an aerial-eNB attachment procedureand then the procedure attempts HO from neighboring cells. The process“converges” when no new PCIs are reported, even though new userequipment with a new imsi may still try to attach to the networkequipment.

Further operations can comprise: receiving, from the core networkequipment, an instruction that comprises a physical cell identity valuefor the to use, wherein the physical cell identity value distinguishesthe aerial hybrid user and network equipment from equipment located inthe hotspot area.

In accordance with further embodiments, the subject disclosure providesadditional systems, apparatuses, equipment, or devices comprising: aprocessor, and a memory that stores executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, Theoperations can comprise: determining, based on measurement report datareturned by equipment situated within a defined geographic area, thatthe equipment is in a traffic overload state; in response to determiningthat the equipment in the defined geographic area are in the trafficoverload state, designating the defined geographic area as being ahotspot area; facilitating aerial user equipment located in a firstgeographic area to travel to the hotspot area; receiving confirmation,from the aerial user equipment, that the aerial user equipment hascrossed over a threshold peripheral boundary that demarcates the hotspotarea and that the aerial user equipment has transitioned from being theaerial user equipment to being aerial network equipment; facilitatingthe aerial network equipment to reject attempts, from equipment locatedwithin the hotspot area, to attach to the aerial network equipment; andtransmitting, to the aerial network equipment, physical cell identitydata representative of the unique identity value, wherein the uniqueidentity value distinguishes the aerial network equipment from theequipment located within the hotspot area.

Additional operation can comprise: determining that the equipmentlocated in the hotspot area is in the overload state based on returnedsignal strength indicator data, signal to noise data, received channelto power indicator data, and reference signal received power data;facilitating the aerial user equipment to transition to the aerialnetwork equipment by causing the aerial user equipment to initiateexecution of a relay process; facilitating the aerial network equipmentto change altitudes from a first altitude value to a second altitudevalue to reduce a number of reported source-cell-ID associated withneighboring equipment located in the hotspot area; and facilitating theaerial network equipment to relocate from a first area within thehotspot area to a second area within the hotspot area.

In regard to the foregoing the hotspot area can be represented as agroup of global positioning satellite coordinates that indicate aboundary that surrounds that hotspot area; the unique identity value canhave been reserved for use by the aerial network equipment in instanceswhen the core network equipment identifies the traffic overload state;the unique identity value can be randomly assigned to the aerial networkequipment in instances when the core network equipment identifies thetraffic overload state; and wherein when the unique identity value is afirst identity value, additional operations can comprise transmitting asecond identity value that replaces the first identity on the aerialnetwork equipment once the core network equipment determines that noadditional international mobile subscriber identity values associatedwith the equipment located within the hotspot area have been reportedback via the aerial network equipment within a defined duration of time.

In accordance with still further embodiments, the subject disclosuredescribes a machine readable medium, a computer readable storage device,or non-transitory machine readable media comprising instructions that,in response to execution, cause a computing system (e.g., equipment,devices, groupings of devices, etc.) comprising at least one processorto perform operations. The operations can include: receiving, from corenetwork equipment, an instruction to travel from a first geographiclocation to a second geographic location, wherein the second geographiclocation has been determined, by the core network equipment, asrepresenting a hotspot location; traveling from the first geographiclocation to the hotspot location; based on crossing a boundaryassociated with the hotspot location, initiating execution of a userequipment relay process that transitions the aerial user equipment frombeing user equipment to being aerial network equipment; and transmittingto the core network equipment that the user equipment relay process hasbeen successfully initiated.

In the foregoing context, the first geographic location can berepresented as a first collection of geo-location values; and the secondgeographic location can be represented as a second collection ofgeo-location values.

Many use cases of unmanned aerial vehicles require beyond visualline-of-site (LOS) communications. Mobile networks offer wide area, highspeed, and secure wireless connectivity, which can enhance control andsafety of unmanned aerial vehicle operations and enable beyond visualLOS use cases. Existing long term evolution (LTE) networks can supportinitial drone deployments. LTE evolution and fifth generation (5G) canprovide more efficient connectivity for wide-scale drone deployments.New and exciting applications for drones are emerging. A potentialbusiness area for mobile network operators. Use cases of commercial UAVsare growing rapidly, including delivery, communications and media,inspection of critical infrastructure, surveillance, search-and-rescueoperations, agriculture, etc.

Research and development of current mobile broadband communication(e.g., LTE) has been primarily devoted to terrestrial communication.Providing tether-less broadband connectivity for unmanned aerialvehicles is an emerging field.

Mobile network operator (MNO) entities, such as wireless networkoperators, can use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) comprising networkingequipment such as base station equipment, access point equipment, eNodeBequipment, gNodeB equipment, etc. to offload network traffic from landbased networking architectures in order to better manage data flowsbetween collections or groups of equipment, such as user equipment anddisparate networking equipment). In some instance wireless networkoperators can employ defined or specifically designed aerial networkingequipment (e.g., aerial base station equipment, aerial access pointequipment, aerial eNodeB equipment, aerial gNodeB equipment, and thelike) to offload traffic from terrestrial (or land based) networkingarchitectures, in order to ameliorate high traffic volumes due, forexample, to special events (e.g., music concerts, political and/orbusiness conventions, tradeshows, sporting events, disaster recovery, .. . ) occurring in one or more defined or determinable geographic areas.

Aerial networking equipment, such as aerial base station equipment,aerial access point equipment, aerial eNodeB equipment, and the like,can be a cell site on a drone. The aerial networking equipment can bedesigned to beam LTE coverage from the sky to customers on the groundduring disasters and/or big events. The aerial networking equipment cancarry a small cell and associated antennas. Aerial networking equipmentcan use satellite or terrestrial based networking equipment as backhaul,to transport text, calls, and data. Aerial networking equipment canoperate in extremely remote areas, and where wired and/or wirelessinfrastructure is not immediately available. Further, aerial networkingequipment can provide LTE coverage from the sky to designated areas onthe ground. Aerial networking equipment can be easier to deploy due totheir small size. Additionally, aerial networking equipment can providelarger coverage footprints than comparable terrestrial networkingequipment; due to the fact that aerial networking equipment canpotentially fly at altitudes over 300 feet. Moreover, multiple aerialnetworking equipment flying in formation can be deployed to expand thecoverage footprint.

As noted above, aerial networking equipment can be used to addadditional capacity to hotspot areas as well as fill in areas themacro-network does not provide coverage; where there are zoninglimitations; or where installation of macro-network equipment isprohibitively expensive. As also noted above, aerial networkingequipment can carry a small cell (e.g., micro cells, picocells, or femtocells) and antennas. Small cells can be low-powered radio access nodesthat can usually have coverage range much smaller than macro cells.Small cell base stations are typically a low-cost, small, and simpleunit that connects to the operator LTE network.

Aerial networking equipment can offer many of the benefits to improvedata throughput for users, increase capacity in the network, and fillingfor coverage gaps. The integration of aerial networking equipment withterrestrial base station equipment through a heterogeneous network canbe useful in seamless handoffs and increases the user data capacity.

Existing LTE networks use a automatic network relation (ANR) mechanismto dynamically build and maintain optimal neighbor lists for each cellin real time. The ANR mechanism is a self optimization feature used todynamically build and maintain optimal neighbor lists for each cell inreal time. The ANR mechanism constantly maintains optimal neighbor listsper cell by identifying missing neighbors, unused cells, andautomatically reconfigures without user intervention. The ANR mechanismoperates based on user equipment reporting signal strengths fromneighboring cells. Typically, the ANR mechanism increases the number ofsuccessful handovers and leads to less dropped connections due tomissing neighbor relations. Use of the ANR mechanism also minimizesmanual handling of the neighbor relations when establishing newterrestrial based networking equipment and when optimizing neighborlists. Further, by using the ANR mechanism time-consuming and costlytasks and the associated operational expenditure can be reduced.Furthermore, the ANR mechanism is ideal for network rollouts where sitesare launched one at a time because the mechanism automatically adapts tothe changing network topology.

In some embodiment disclosed herein, user equipment can be used todetect and report neighboring cell equipment to serving cell equipment.Reported neighboring cell equipment can be identified by their PCIvalues. If reported neighboring cell equipment is not in the neighboringlist of serving cell equipment, then user equipment can be asked to readand report additional cell information (e.g., EUTRAN cell globalidentity (ECGI)—a unique cell identifier used globally by mobile networkoperators). The servicing cell equipment then request IP addresses ofneighboring cell equipment from element management system equipment andestablishes an X2 tunnel with the unreported neighboring cell equipment.A relationship tuple can then be created between the ECGI/PCI/IP for theunreported neighboring cell equipment. Once the relationship tuple hasbeen created, subsequent user equipment need only report the PCI of the(now-reported) neighboring cell equipment. Serving cell equipment canthen commence handover (HO) to the neighboring cell equipment using theestablished PCI/X2-tunnel table.

When new base station equipment, such as a eNodeB equipment, isestablished, the new base station equipment needs to select PCI valuesfor all the cells (sectors,) it supports. There are 504 unique PCIvalues in LTE, and 1008 unique PCI values in 5G, so the reuse of PCIs indifferent cells is unavoidable. Therefore, base station equipment needsto guarantee that the following conditions are met when selecting PCIvalues: (1) PCI values should not be the same as PCI values in anyneighboring cell equipment; and (2) a given cell may have severalneighboring cells, these neighboring cells should not have the same PCIvalues

When new base station equipment first commences operation it generallyhas no knowledge of the PCI values of neighboring cell equipment. Inorder to identify a non-conflicting PCI value a mathematical modelassociated with self organizing networking (SON) processes can be used.The SON process searches all used PCI values in a defined geographicarea. The PCI value identified by the SON process will be an unused PCIvalue that can be assigned to the newly established base stationequipment. Should there be a subsequent PCI collision, the SON processcan re-assign/replace the previously PCI value with a new PCI value toavoid conflict. This approach can take several rounds of trial anderror, during this time handover performance to and/or from the newlyestablished base station equipment can be impacted throughhandover-failures and/or ping-pong events.

In some embodiments set forth herein, traffic offloading can beperformed by individual aerial network equipment, though more commonly,traffic offloading can be undertaken by groups or clusters of aerialnetwork equipment (e.g., marshaled or dispersed, for example in one ormore various disparate aerial formations). Typically, traffic offloadingcan last for several hours, though in some instances traffic offloadingcan be as fleeting as a few minutes (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15minutes, half an hour, three quarters of an hour, etc.).

In the foregoing instances, hybrid aerial and terrestrial communicationsystems need to be established and/or deployed rapidly, and generallycan deliver fast and reliable connectivity to user equipment (UE), suchas smart phones, Internet of Things (IoT) equipment, etc. In somedetailed embodiments, aerial network equipment, such as aerial evolvedNodeB (eNodeB or eNB) equipment, can operate as user equipment relaydevices/equipment, wherein a first logical side of the relay equipmentcan operate as user equipment attached, for instance, to terrestrialeNodeB equipment while a second logical side can function as aerialeNodeB equipment which in turn can provide coverage to other UE. Aerialnetworking equipment, such as aerial eNodeB equipment, typically need touse physical cell identity (PCI) values that do not conflict withexiting terrestrial networking equipment (e.g., existing terrestrial orland based cellular networking architectures). In many instances,current wireless network operators do not have full knowledge of theentirety of existing land based cellular networking architecturesoperational within their respective regions of operation—there can bemany multiple major mobile network operator entities operational inrespective overlapping, defined, or determinable geographical areas.Currently, the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) technicalspecification does not support self PCI configuration procedures fornewly established aerial eNodeB equipment. Nevertheless, an existingmechanism that can be beneficial relies on two dimensional coverage maps(e.g., used for land based or terrestrial coverage) for PCI assignment.It has been observed however that the use of such two dimensionalcoverage maps in regard to PCI assignment in the context of aerialnetwork equipment can take several significant rounds of trial and errorto achieve a relative state of quiescence, during which time handover(HO) performance to and/or from the aerial eNodeB equipment can beimpacted in terms of HO failures and/or the introduction of undesirableping-pong (e.g., indecision as to which aerial eNodeB equipment of acollection or clustered formation of aerial eNodeB equipment and/orterrestrial based networking equipment of a constellation of terrestrialor land based networking equipment should be optimally best be used forPCI assignment).

The subject disclosure in accordance with various embodiments provides asmart PCI self configuration system and/or method for aerial networkingequipment used in conjunction with terrestrial fourth generation (4G)and/or fifth generation (5G) communication networks to overcome theforegoing issues. The disclosed systems and/or methods can be situated,in some embodiments, at central node global control equipment located onthe core network (e.g., mobile edge compute (MEC) equipment, selforganized network (SON) equipment, and/or radio access network (RAN)intelligent controller (RIC) equipment. In various embodiments, thedisclosed systems and/or methods add additional acts and/or conditionsinto an automatic network relation (ANR) and handover mechanism. Theadditional of these additional acts can be utilized to extend supportfor smart cell configuration PCI to aerial networking equipment in ahybrid aerial and terrestrial communication systems.

With reference to the Figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a smart physical cellidentity (PCI) configuration system 100 for aerial network equipmentthat can used in terrestrial fourth generation (4G) and/or fifthgeneration (5G) Long Term Evolution wireless networking paradigms.System 100 can overcome PCI limitations and/or conflicts associated withcurrent and existing terrestrial network networking architectures. Insome embodiments, system 100 can be central node global controlequipment located on the core network. Examples of central node globalcontrol equipment can be mobile edge compute (MEC) equipment, selforganized network (SON) equipment, or radio access network intelligentcontroller (RIC) equipment.

As illustrated system 100 can comprise convergence engine 102 that canbe communicatively coupled to processor 104, memory 106, and storage108. Convergence engine 102 can be in communication with processor 104for facilitating operation of computer and/or machine executableinstructions and/or components by convergence engine 102, memory 106 forstoring data and/or the computer or machine executable instructionsand/or components, and storage 108 for providing longer term storage fordata and/or machine and/or computer machining instructions.Additionally, system 100 can receive input 110 for use, manipulation,and/or transformation by convergence engine 102 to produce one or moreuseful, concrete, and tangible result, and/or transform one or morearticles to different states or things. Further, system 100 can alsogenerate and output the useful, concrete, and tangible results, and/orthe transformed one or more articles produced by convergence engine 102,as output 112.

In some embodiments, system 100 can be an Internet of Things (IoT) smallform factor equipment capable of effective and/or operativecommunication with a network topology. Additionally in alternativeembodiments, system 100 can be any type of mechanism, machine, device,apparatus, equipment, and/or instrument that can be utilized tofacilitate smart physical cell identity (PCI) configuration. Examples oftypes of mechanisms, equipment, machines, devices, apparatuses,and/instruments can include virtual reality (VR) devices, wearabledevices, heads up display (HUD) devices, machine type communicationdevices, and/or wireless devices that communicate with radio networknodes in a cellular or mobile communication system. In various otherembodiments, system 100 can comprise tablet computing devices, handhelddevices, server class computing machines and/or databases, laptopcomputers, notebook computers, desktop computers, cell phones, smartphones, commercial and/or consumer appliances and/or instrumentation,industrial devices and/or components, personal digital assistants,multimedia Internet enabled phones, Internet enabled devices, multimediaplayers, aeronautical/avionic devices associated with, for example,orbiting satellites and/or associated aeronautical vehicles, and thelike.

Convergence engine 102 can identity locations of geographical hotspotareas. Hotspot areas can be identified as a defined geographic areacomprising networking equipment, such as eNodeBs and/or gNodeBs, thathave become overwhelmed due to high data traffic volumes traversingthrough a geographic hotspot area. In some embodiments, the cause ofsuch high traffic volumes can be due to special events, suchconventions, music concerts, and the like, occurring in the geographicareas. In other embodiments, the cause of high traffic volumes of hightraffic loads can be due natural disasters, such as the aftermath oftyphoons, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes, etc. Typically, hightraffic volumes can be identified using measurement data, such areturned signal strength indicators (RSSIs), signal to noise ratios(SNRs), received channel power indicators (RCPIs), quality of service(QoS) metrics, reference signal received power (RSRP) data, and thelike. Generally, measurement data can be reported back (fed back) fromequipment (e.g., networking equipment and/or user equipment) locatedwithin a putative hotspot area. Convergence engine 102 can thereforeidentify a particular geographic area as being a hotspot and to be incrisis as a consequence of high traffic or data volumes based on one ormore of the indicators (e.g., RSSI, SNR, RCPI, QoS, RSRP, . . . )exceeding one or more defined or definable threshold values and/orfalling below one or more defined or determinable threshold values.

Convergence engine 102, in response to identifying a hotspot area, caninstruct and dispatch one or more unmanned aerial vehicle (e.g., aerialuser equipment (aerial UE)) to the hotspot area. In this regard thehotspot area can be identified by groups of global positioning satellite(GPS) coordinates or geo-location coordinates that can identify thehotspot area with various degrees of specificity.

When the aerial UE arrives at the hotspot area (e.g., upon entering thehotspot area), the aerial UE can automatically launch/enable a UE-relayprocess. Alternatively, the aerial UE upon entry into the airspace abovethe hotspot area can await for instructions from convergence engine 102to facilitate initiation of the UE-relay process. The UE at thisjuncture in time transitions from being an unmanned aerial vehicle(e.g., a pure drone vehicle) to being airborne networking equipment,such as an aerial eNodeB equipment. When the aerial UE transitions frombeing an ordinary aerial UE device to an airborne networking device, theaerial UE becomes a hybrid device, wherein in at the front end theaerial UE continues to be a UE device, but at the backend, once theUE-relay process has been deployed, the aerial UE is also capable ofoperating and functioning as networking equipment, such as an eNodeBequipment.

Once the aerial UE transitions to being an aerial hybrid device (alsoreferred to as aerial-eNB equipment or an aerial-eNB device) capable ofoperating as both aerial UE and airborne networking equipment,convergence engine 102 can select and assign a PCI value to the aerialhybrid device. In some embodiments, convergence engine 102 can assign arandom PCI value to the aerial-eNB equipment. In other embodiments,convergence engine 102 can assign a PCI value that has been specificallyor intentionally reserved for the aerial-eNB equipment during instancesof overwhelming traffic and/or data congestion within hotspot areas. Atthis time, when convergence engine 102 is assigning PCI values to beused by aerial-eNB equipment situated within a hotspot area, convergenceengine 102 can also instruct the aerial-eNB equipment to reject allequipment (e.g., terrestrial and/or aerial based networking equipmentand/or terrestrial and/or other aerial UE located within the hotspotarea) attach attempts and/or handover attempts to it. The aerial-eNB canreject equipment attach requests and/or handover requests based onvarious conditions, such as identifiable overloading conditions.

Once convergence engine 102 has directed aerial-eNB to reject all attachrequests and/or all handover requests received from terrestrial and/oraerial based networking equipment and/or terrestrial based UE and/orother aerial UE, convergence engine 102 can instruct terrestrial networkequipment, such as terrestrial eNodeBs, situated within the hotspot areato assign a high priority to the aerial-eNB. It will be noted that UEs(airborne as well as terrestrial) situated within the hotspot area canattempt to attach and/or handover to the aerial-eNB, but theseattachment requests and/or handover requests can, at this point in time,be rejected outright by the aerial-eNB.

Convergence engine 102, based at least in part on the rejectedattachment requests and/or handover requests received, by theaerial-eNB, from UEs (e.g., terrestrial and/or airborne) and/orattachment requests and/or handover requests received, by theaerial-eNB, from terrestrial and/or aerial based networking equipment,can collect, collate, rank, and/or order, and store (e.g., to memory106, storage 108, and one or more database of a collection of associateddatabases) user equipment international mobile subscriber identifier(UE-imsi) value and/or source-cell-identifier (source-cell-ID) valuedata. It should be observed that the UE-imsi values and/orsource-cell-ID values are those values associated with equipment withinthe defined geographic hotspot area that solicit attachment requestsand/or handover requests from the aerial-eNB.

Convergence engine 102 can the use the UE-imsi values and/orsource-cell-ID values to communicate with other core network equipmentto obtain PCI and/or evolved universal mobile telecommunication system(UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) cell global identity(ECGI) data for each of the UE-imsi values and/or source-cell-ID valuesassociated with the respective equipment that solicited attachmentrequests and/or handover requests from the aerial-eNB. Additionally,convergence engine 102, from these other core network equipment, canalso obtain corresponding neighboring-list (NL) data.

Convergence engine 102 can continue acquiring UE-imsi values and/orsource-cell-ID values for a defined or definable duration of time.Generally, the defined or definable duration of time can be determinedas to when convergence is reached. Typically, convergence is reachedwhen no new neighbor network equipment within the defined hotspotgeographic area are reported. In this regard it should be noted that indisaster situations, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornado touchdowns, etc., many network equipment devices within a defined hotspotarea can have been rendered inoperable with the consequent result thatpreviously established coverage and/or topological mappings can now havechanged and can have been rendered obsolete. In such cases, the PCIvalues and/or ECGI values can differ from previously establishedcoverage maps and/or topological maps generated and/or developed beforethe disaster event.

Convergence engine 102 at this stage can select a PCI value that doesnot conflict with PCI values associated with neighboring networkequipment (e.g., neighboring terrestrial eNodeB equipment) and thatequipment that is not also included in the neighboring networkequipment's neighbor list.

In instances where convergence cannot be achieved (e.g., when, after theelapse of a defined or definable duration of time, additional neighbornetwork equipment within the defined hotspot geographic area are stillbeing reported) and/or when convergence engine 102 determines, based,for example, on one or more pre-established or determinable thresholdvalues associated with a length of the NL, that the neighboring networkequipment's neighbor list (NL) is too large to identify a viable and/orusable PCI and/or ECGI, convergence engine 102 can instruct theaerial-eNB equipment to relocate and hover at alternative GPScoordinates within the defined hotspot area. Additionally and/oralternatively, convergence engine 102 can instruct the aerial-eNBequipment to change hovering altitudes (e.g., up or down) at the initialGPS coordinates within the hotspot area, or change hovering altitudes atthe alternative GPS coordinates. While the aerial-eNB equipment ischanging location and/or changing altitude, convergence engine 102 candirect the aerial-eNB equipment to continue collecting UE-imsi valuesand/or source-cell-ID values for equipment located within the hotspotarea. It should be noted that when aerial-eNB equipment is changingaltitudes the detection coverage umbrae and/or penumbrae can vary atdifferent hovering altitudes, wherein the detection coverage umbraeand/or penumbrae can generally be greater when aerial-eNB equipment arehovering at higher altitudes than when aerial-eNB equipment are hoveringat lower altitudes. Thus, by lowering the attitude at which aerial-eNBequipment are hovering can result in the faster acquisition of the NL,commensurately shorter NLs, and a potentially faster selection of a listof PCI values that can be assigned for use by aerial-eNB equipment.

Once a PCI value that does not conflict with neighboring terrestrialnetworking equipment operational in the hotspot area has been identifiedand assigned for use by aerial-eNB equipment operating within a definedhotspot area, convergence engine 102 can direct aerial-eNB equipment tore-launch or re-enable the UE-relay process, but in re-launching and/orre-enabling the UE-relay process convergence engine 102 can instructaerial-eNB equipment to allow for attachment and/or handover requests toitself from equipment (e.g., airborne and/or terrestrial UEs and/orairborne and/or terrestrial network equipment), and thus serve theequipment located within the hotspot coverage area.

In regard to the foregoing it should be noted that the attachment and/orhandover processes between terrestrial networking equipment within thehotspot area is generally not affected during the time that convergenceengine 102 is searching for PCI values to assign to aerial-eNBequipment.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative unmanned aerial vehicle 200 that can beused in terrestrial fourth generation (4G) and/or fifth generation (5G)Long Term Evolution wireless networking paradigms. Unmanned aerialvehicle 200 can an airship, such as blimp, an aeronautical vehicle, adrone, a tethered balloon, and the like. Unmanned aerial vehicle 200 inaccordance with various embodiments can comprise a user equipment aspect202, and a network equipment aspect 204. User equipment aspect 202 canbe a default status for unmanned aerial vehicle 200. More particularly,unmanned aerial vehicle 200 is by default operational as user equipment.As such, unnamed aerial vehicle 200 in some embodiments can compriseInternet of Things (IoT) small form factor equipment capable ofeffective and/or operative communication with a network topology.Additionally in alternative embodiments, unnamed aerial vehicle 200 canbe any type of mechanism, machine, device, apparatus, equipment, and/orinstrument capable of flight that can be utilized to facilitate smartPCI configuration. Generally, unmanned aerial vehicle 200, whenoperational in both the user equipment aspect 202 and the networkequipment aspect 204 can comprise a processor for facilitating operationof computer and/or machine executable instructions and/or components, amemory for storing data and/or the computer or machine executableinstructions and/or components, and storage for providing longer termstorage for data and/or machine and/or computer machining instructions.Additionally, unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can receive input for use,manipulation, and/or transformation by the processor to produce one ormore useful, concrete, and tangible result, and/or transform one or morearticles to different states or things. Further, unmanned aerial vehicle200 can also generate and output the useful, concrete, and tangibleresults, and/or the transformed one or more articles produced by theprocessor, as output.

In accordance with some embodiments, unmanned aerial vehicle 200 whileoperational in the user equipment aspect 202 can be directed to travelor relocate to a geographic hotspot area identified by network equipment(e.g., by convergence engine 102). Unmanned aerial vehicle 200,operating as user equipment (e.g., operational under the user equipmentaspect 202), can use GPS coordinates to navigate and fly to theidentified geographic hotspot area. Once unmanned aerial vehicle 200arrives at the geographic hotspot area represented by the GPScoordinates supplied by the network equipment, unmanned aerial vehicle200 can initiate a UE-relay process that instantiates network equipmentaspect 206. When network equipment aspect 206 has been instantiated, theunmanned aerial vehicle 200 transitions from being solely a userequipment device to being a hybrid user equipment/network equipmentdevice—an aerial-eNB device or aerial-eNB equipment, wherein theaerial-eNB equipment has, once the UE-relay process is initiated, twoconcurrent functional aspects, a first operational aspect that is tooperate as user equipment (e.g., operate as a typical aerial drone) anda second operational aspect that is to operate as typical, albeitairborne, network equipment (e.g., base station equipment, eNodeBequipment, gNodeB equipment, etc.).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example time sequence chart 300 that can be usedto facilitate PCI configuration for aerial network equipment that canused in terrestrial fourth generation (4G) and/or fifth generation (5G)Long Term Evolution wireless networking paradigms. In regard to timesequence chart 300, at act 302, central node global control equipment,such as MEC equipment, SON equipment, RIC equipment, and the like, canidentify geographic hotspot areas that have become overwhelmed due tohigh traffic volumes flowing through networking equipment located in thehotspot area. As has been noted earlier, causes for high traffic volumescan be due to special events, such as conventions, music concerts,disaster situations, and the like, occurring in the hotspot area. As hasalso been observed, high traffic volumes can be determined based atleast in part on measurement metrics and/or measurement data, such asRSSIs, SNRs, RCPIs, QoS, RSRP data, and the like, that can have beensent back, directly and/or indirectly, to the central node globalcontrol equipment by various equipment, such as user equipment, basestation equipment, IoT equipment, access point equipment, microcellequipment, picocell equipment, femtocell equipment, etc. located withinthe hotspot area.

Also at act 302, in response to identifying a geographic hotspot area aninstruction can be forwarded to drone user equipment (e.g., unmannedaerial vehicle 200). The instruction forwarded to the drone userequipment can be a grouping of GPS coordinates or a collection ofgeo-location tags that can identify a defined peripheral boundary thatencircles the identified geographic hotspot area.

On receiving the instruction the drone user equipment can becomeairborne and travel to the hotspot area identified by the grouping ofGPS coordinates or a collection of geo-location tags. It should be notedthat in some embodiments a single drone user equipment can be dispatchedto the geographic hotspot area based on the collection of geo-locationtags or grouping of GPS coordinates, whereas in additional and/oralternative embodiments, multiple drone user equipment can be sent tothe hotspot area based on the collection of geo-location tags orgrouping of GPS coordinates. In this regard it should be observed thatthe drone equipment can typically be situated in one or more proximatelocation close to the identified geographic hotspot area. However, therecan be instances where drone user equipment can be marshaled from one ormore disparate and/or distant locations that are not proximate to theidentified hotspot.

Thus in some embodiments, drone user equipment, if located centrally ina single location, in response to receiving instructions to travel to ahotspot location based on a defined collection of geo-location tags or adeterminable grouping of GPS coordinates, can become airborne, form aflying formation, and collectively travel to the hotspot area. In otherembodiments, where a plurality of drone user equipment units arediversely located (e.g., different geographic regions) each of theplurality of drone user equipment units, for example, can initially andindividually travel to a common meeting point (e.g., inside the hotspotarea or outside the hotspot area), and then collectively form a flyingformation to blanket the hotspot area.

Once drone user equipment have arrived at the hotpot area (or when thedrone user equipment cross over a boundary that demarcates the hotspotarea), the drone equipment can enable a UE-relay process. TheUE-process, once initiated, transitions the drone user equipment frombeing an ordinary user equipment device to being an airborne networkingdevice with one or more capabilities, for example, of base stationequipment, microcell equipment, macrocell equipment, picocell equipment,femtocell equipment, or other suitable equipment. Stated alternatively,when the UE-process is initiated, the drone user equipment becomes, forexample, a hybrid device; an aerial-eNB equipment with the facilitiesand/or functionalities of both user equipment at the frontend andnetworking equipment and the backend. At this stage the aerial-eNBequipment, at act 304, can report back to the core network equipmentthat it has arrived (or crossed into the area demarcated by the definedcollection of geo-location tags or a determinable grouping of GPScoordinates) and that it has initiated the UE-relay process.

Core network equipment in response to receiving confirmation thataerial-eNB equipment has entered into the hotspot area and hassuccessfully enable the UE-relay process, at act 306, in an embodimentcan randomly assign a PCI value to the aerial-eNB equipment. In anadditional and/or alternative embodiment, core network equipment, at act306, can assign a reserved or pre-established PCI to the aerial-eNBequipment.

At act 308, core network equipment can instruct aerial-eNB equipment toreject attempts, by all UE within the hotspot area and/or allterrestrial based networking equipment situated within the hotspot area,to attach to it and/or to handover to it. In some embodiments,aerial-eNB equipment, at this instance of time, can automatically rejectattachment and/or handover requests based, for example, variousconditions, such as overloading conditions (e.g., load=high). Inadditional and/or alternative embodiments, aerial-eNB the rejection ofattachment and/or handover requests can be facilitated by core networkequipment.

At act 310, core network equipment can instruct terrestrial networkequipment situated within the geographic hotspot area demarcated by thedefined collection of geo-location tags or a determinable grouping ofGPS coordinates to assign a high priority to the aerial-eNB equipment.

In the interim at act 312, aerial-eNB equipment, for each rejectedattachment request and/or each rejected handover request received fromall UE within the hotspot area and/or all terrestrial based networkingequipment within the hotspot area, can report back to core networkequipment data such as relevant international mobile subscriberidentifier (imsi) values and/or relevant source cell identifier valuesassociated with the equipment that have had their attachment requestsand/or handover requests rejected by aerial-eNB equipment. Core networkequipment can store the data fed back by aerial-eNB equipment as tuplesto associated database equipment of collections of database equipment.In regard to storing the data returned by aerial-eNB equipment to corenetwork equipment, this data can also be stored to one or more memoriesassociated with core network equipment and/or to one or more longerstorage equipment (e.g., cloud storage equipment) that can also beassociated with core network equipment.

During, and/or concurrently with, acts 310 and 312, core networkequipment can collaborate and communicate with other core networkequipment and/or terrestrial based networking equipment (both within thehotspot area and outside the hotspot area) to acquire PCI values and/orECGI values that correspond with the relevant international mobilesubscriber identifier (imsi) values and/or relevant source cellidentifier values associated with the equipment that have had theirattachment requests and/or handover requests rejected by aerial-eNBequipment.

At act 314 terrestrial network equipment within the hotspot area canreturn the neighbor lists (NLs) to core network equipment. Core networkequipment can thereafter use the neighbor lists received from theterrestrial network equipment located within the hotspot area todetermine a listing of neighboring terrestrial network equipment of theneighbor terrestrial network equipment. For example, first terrestrialnetwork equipment can have returned a first neighbor list that comprisesterrestrial network equipment A, B, and C that are immediate neighborsof the first terrestrial network equipment, and a second terrestrialnetwork equipment can return a second neighbor list that comprisesterrestrial network equipment C, D, and E that are immediate neighborsof the second terrestrial equipment. Core network equipment candetermine from the respectively returned neighbor lists that terrestrialnetwork equipment C is a common immediate neighbor of both the firstterrestrial network equipment and the second terrestrial networkequipment, that terrestrial network equipment A and B are neighbors onceremoved from the perspective of the second terrestrial network equipment(e.g., neighbors of immediately neighboring equipment), and thatterrestrial network equipment D and E are neighbors once removed fromthe perspective of the first terrestrial network equipment.

At act 316 core network equipment can determine whether convergence hasbeen attained. Convergence is generally achieved when no additionalterrestrial neighbor network equipment located within the definedhotspot geographic area is reported back to the core network equipment.It should once again be observed that in disaster situations that manyterrestrial network equipment situated within the hotspot area can havebeen rendered inoperable, and as such previously established coveragemaps and/or topological feature charts can have become obsolete as aconsequence of the disaster. In such cases, the PCI and ECGI values candiffer from previously established coverage maps and/or topological mapsthat had been developed prior to the disaster.

At act 316, if convergence has been attained, core network equipment canselect a PCI value that does not conflict with any other PCI valueassociated with neighboring terrestrial network equipment located in thehotspot area, and further does not conflict with any other PCI valueassociated with neighbor of neighboring terrestrial network equipmentsituated within, or outside, the hotspot area. Core network equipmentcan forward the selected PCI value for use by the aerial-eNB equipmenttogether with instructions to re-launch the UE-relay process and allowthe aerial-eNB equipment to accept attachment and handover requests fromall equipment located within the hotspot area.

At act 318, when core network equipment is not able to determine thatconvergence has been reached, because after an elapse of a defined ordefinable duration of time additional neighbor terrestrial networkequipment located within the hotspot area are still being reported,and/or because core network equipment determines, based, for example, onone or more threshold values associated with lengths of neighbor listshaving been exceeded to identify a useable PCI and/or ECGI value, corenetwork equipment can instruct aerial-eNB equipment to relocate to andhover over alternative GPS coordinates within the hotspot area.Additionally and/or alternatively, core network equipment can directaerial-eNB to change hovering altitudes at the initial GPS coordinateswith the hotspot area, or change hovering altitudes over alternative GPScoordinates. While the aerial-eNB equipment is changing location and/orchanging altitudes, core network equipment can also direct theaerial-eNB equipment to continue collecting UE-imsi values and/or sourcecell ID values for equipment located within the hotspot area.

At act 320, once a PCI value that does not conflict with neighboringterrestrial network equipment operational within the hotspot area hasbeen identified, by core network equipment, for use by aerial-eNBequipment, core network equipment can instruct aerial-eNB equipment tore-launch the UE-process and further direct aerial-eNB to all forattachment and/or handover requests from all equipment (e.g.,terrestrial based user equipment, aerial based user equipment,terrestrial based networking equipment, or any other appropriateequipment).

In view of the example system(s) described above, example method(s) thatcan be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter canbe better appreciated with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS. 4-7. Forpurposes of simplicity of explanation, example method disclosed hereinis presented and described as a series of acts; however, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the disclosure is not limited by theorder of acts, as some acts may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. Forexample, one or more example methods disclosed herein couldalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, interaction diagram(s) mayrepresent methods in accordance with the disclosed subject matter whendisparate entities enact disparate portions of the methods. Furthermore,not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a describedexample method in accordance with the subject specification. Furtheryet, the disclosed example method can be implemented in combination withone or more other methods, to accomplish one or more aspects hereindescribed. It should be further appreciated that the example methoddisclosed throughout the subject specification are capable of beingstored on an article of manufacture (e.g., a computer-readable medium)to allow transporting and transferring such methods to computers forexecution, and thus implementation, by a processor or for storage in amemory.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 that can be used to facilitate smart PCIconfiguration for aerial network equipment that can used in terrestrial4G and/or 5G LTE wireless networking paradigms. Method 400 can beperformed by core network equipment (e.g., core network equipment 100)wherein at 402 when core network equipment identifies a hotspotgeographic area, based, for example, on returned measure reportscomprising measurement data received from one or more terrestrialnetworking equipment located within the hotspot geographic area, corenetwork equipment can, at act 404, can dispatch aerial user equipment(e.g., drone user equipment) to the identified hotspot geographic area.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 that can be used to facilitate smart PCIconfiguration for aerial network equipment that can used in terrestrial4G and/or 5G LTE wireless networking paradigms. Method 500 can beimplemented on aerial user equipment, such as drone user equipment. Atact 502, aerial user equipment can receive instructions from corenetwork equipment to locate from a first geographic area represented,for example, by a first group of GPS coordinate values to a secondgeographic area represented by a second group of GPS coordinate values,wherein the second geographic area represented by the second group ofGPS coordinate values area is a hotspot area identified by core networkequipment. At act 504, the aerial user equipment, based on the secondgroup of GPS coordinate values that can have been received and includedin the instructions from the core network equipment, aerial userequipment can travel from the first geographic area represented by thefirst group of GPS coordinate values to the second geographic arearepresented by the second group of GPS coordinate values. At act 506, onarrival at, or on entering, the second geographic area (the identifiedhotspot area) bounded, for example, by the second group of GPScoordinate values, the aerial user equipment can initiate a UE-relayprocess that transitions the aerial user equipment to become a hybridaerial user/network equipment that can facilitate one or moreterrestrial network equipment functionality and/or facility.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 that can be used to facilitate smart PCIconfiguration for aerial network equipment that can used in terrestrial4G and/or 5G LTE wireless networking paradigms. Method 600 can beimplemented on core network equipment. At act 602, core networkequipment can receive notification the dispatched aerial user equipmentthat it has initiated the UE-relay process and has transitioned frombeing aerial user equipment to now being a hybrid aerial user/networkequipment. Additionally at act 602, core network equipment can beinformed by the hybrid aerial user/network equipment that it has reachedits targeted destination (e.g., the identified hotspot area bounded bythe second group of GPS coordinate values). At act 604, core networkequipment can, in some embodiments, assign a randomly selected PCI valueto the hybrid aerial user/network equipment. In other embodiments corenetwork equipment, at act 604, can assign a PCI value that can have beenreserved specifically for allocation to hybrid aerial user/networkequipment when core network equipment identify a geographic hotspotarea. At act 606, core network equipment can instruct hybrid aerialuser/network equipment to reject all other equipment (user equipment(aerial and/or terrestrial), network equipment (terrestrial and/oraerial), and the like) situated within the hotspot area bounded, forexample, by the second group of GPS coordinate values, from attaching tohybrid aerial user/network equipment and/or handing over to hybridaerial user/network equipment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 that can be used to facilitate smart PCIconfiguration for aerial network equipment that can used in terrestrial4G and/or 5G LTE wireless networking paradigms. Method 700 can beoperational on core network equipment. Method 700 can commence at act702, wherein core network equipment, in response to receivingnotification from hybrid aerial user/network equipment that it hasinitiated the UE-relay process, can instruct terrestrial networkequipment located within the bounded hotspot area to assign a highpriority to communications associated with hybrid aerial user/networkequipment. At act 704 core network equipment can facilitate, via hybridaerial user/network equipment, the collection of attachment and/orhandover requests that have been directed to hybrid aerial user/networkequipment by equipment extant within the hotspot area. Typically, corenetwork equipment can collect and store data associated with each of theattachment and/or handover requests. The data can comprise imsi dataand/or source cell ID data. At act 706 core network equipment cancommunicate with other network equipment (e.g., core network equipment,network equipment located within the hotspot area, network equipmentlocated proximate or abutting a hotspot area, and the like) to obtainPCI and/or ECGI data associated each equipment that forwarded anattachment request and/or handover request to hybrid aerial user/networkequipment. Additionally, at 706 core network equipment can also acquireneighbor list data from other core network equipment, terrestrialnetwork equipment located within the bounded hotspot area, and/ornetwork equipment located in areas proximate to the hotspot area. At act708 core network equipment can determine whether convergence has beenattained, and if so, can select a PCI value that does not conflict withneighboring equipment. Convergence can be defined as the stage in whichno new PCIs are collected from neighboring equipment located in thehotspot are for a predefined amount of time. At act 708 core networkequipment instruct hybrid aerial user/network equipment to re-launch theUE-relay process to allow hybrid aerial user/network equipment to accepthandover and/or attachment requests. At act 710 core network equipment,in response to determining that convergence has not been attained, caninstruct hybrid aerial user/network equipment to move around the hotspotarea hovering at greater or lesser altitudes collecting imsi and sourcecell ID data for a defined or definable duration of time. On theexpiration of the defined or definable duration of time, core networkequipment can select a PCI value that does not conflict with neighboringequipment and thereafter re-launch the UE-relay process to allow hybridaerial user/network equipment to accept handover and/or attachmentrequests.

FIG. 8 provides illustration of a EUTRAN cell global identity (ECGI) 800that can be used as a unique identifier across networks globally. Asdepicted ECGI 800 can be comprise 52 bits, wherein 44 bits can comprisea global eNodeB ID (GEND-ID) of which 12 bits of the 44 bits canrepresent a mobile country code (MCC), 12 bits of the 44 bits canrepresent a mobile network code (MNC), and the remaining 20 bits of the44 bits can represent an eNodeB ID (ENB-ID). Additionally, the 52 bitECGI can also include an 8 bit cell ID. Further, from observation of the52 bit ECGI it will be observed that the 12 bit MCC and 12 bit MNC canform a 24 bit public land mobile network (PLMN) specifier that canuniquely identify a mobile network operator entity. Also it will benoted the 20 bit ENB-ID and the 8 bit cell ID provides a 28 bit EUTRANcell identity, wherein the 20 bit ENB-ID is an identifier of an eNodeBwithin one PLMN, and the cell ID is an identifier of sector and carrier.

It should be realized and appreciated by those of ordinary skill, theforegoing non-limiting example use application(s) are merelyillustrations of a use to which the disclosed and described solution canbe applied and thus are provided solely for the purposes of exposition.The described and disclosed subject matter is therefore not limited tothe foregoing example application(s), but can find applicability inother more generalized circumstances and use applications.

FIG. 9 presents an example embodiment 900 of a mobile network platform910 that can implement and exploit one or more aspects of the disclosedsubject matter described herein. Generally, wireless network platform910 can include components, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers,or disparate platforms, that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g.,internet protocol (IP), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM))and circuit-switched (CS) traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well ascontrol generation for networked wireless telecommunication. As anon-limiting example, wireless network platform 910 can be included intelecommunications carrier networks, and can be considered carrier-sidecomponents as discussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform 910includes CS gateway node(s) 912 which can interface CS traffic receivedfrom legacy networks like telephony network(s) 940 (e.g., publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobile network (PLMN))or a signaling system #7 (SS7) network 970. Circuit switched gatewaynode(s) 912 can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g., voice) arisingfrom such networks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s) 912 can accessmobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network 960; forinstance, mobility data stored in a visited location register (VLR),which can reside in memory 930. Moreover, CS gateway node(s) 912interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PS gateway node(s) 918. Asan example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gateway node(s) 912 can berealized at least in part in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). Itshould be appreciated that functionality and specific operation of CSgateway node(s) 912, PS gateway node(s) 918, and serving node(s) 916, isprovided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilized by mobilenetwork platform 910 for telecommunication.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 918 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions caninclude traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to thewireless network platform 910, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 950,enterprise network(s) 970, and service network(s) 980, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 910 through PS gateway node(s) 918. It is to benoted that WANs 950 and enterprise network(s) 970 can embody, at leastin part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). Basedon radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s) 917,packet-switched gateway node(s) 918 can generate packet data protocolcontexts when a data session is established; other data structures thatfacilitate routing of packetized data also can be generated. To thatend, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 918 can include a tunnel interface(e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in 3GPP UMTS network(s) (notshown)) which can facilitate packetized communication with disparatewireless network(s), such as Wi-Fi networks.

In embodiment 900, wireless network platform 910 also includes servingnode(s) 916 that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) withintechnology resource(s) 917, convey the various packetized flows of datastreams received through PS gateway node(s) 918. It is to be noted thatfor technology resource(s) 917 that rely primarily on CS communication,server node(s) can deliver traffic without reliance on PS gatewaynode(s) 918; for example, server node(s) can embody at least in part amobile switching center. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, servingnode(s) 916 can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)914 in wireless network platform 910 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can include add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bywireless network platform 910. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 918 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 916 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 914 can include utilityserver(s), a utility server can include a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through wireless network platform 910 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 912and PS gateway node(s) 918 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 950 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to wirelessnetwork platform 910 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as femto-cell network(s) (not shown) that enhancewireless service coverage within indoor confined spaces and offloadradio access network resources in order to enhance subscriber serviceexperience within a home or business environment by way of UE 975.

It is to be noted that server(s) 914 can include one or more processorsconfigured to confer at least in part the functionality of macro networkplatform 910. To that end, the one or more processor can execute codeinstructions stored in memory 930, for example. It is should beappreciated that server(s) 914 can include a content manager 915, whichoperates in substantially the same manner as described hereinbefore.

In example embodiment 900, memory 930 can store information related tooperation of wireless network platform 910. Other operationalinformation can include provisioning information of mobile devicesserved through wireless platform network 910, subscriber databases;application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates,flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s)consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparateradio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 930 can alsostore information from at least one of telephony network(s) 940, WAN950, enterprise network(s) 970, or SS7 network 960. In an aspect, memory930 can be, for example, accessed as part of a data store component oras a remotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 10, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory 1020 (see below), non-volatile memory 1022 (see below), diskstorage 1024 (see below), and memory storage 1046 (see below). Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory caninclude random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory.By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in manyforms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronousDRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM(ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, includingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, watch, tablet computers, netbookcomputers, . . . ), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer orindustrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network; however, some if not all aspects of the subjectdisclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributedcomputing environment, program modules can be located in both local andremote memory storage devices.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system 1000 operableto execute the disclosed systems and methods in accordance with anembodiment. Computer 1012, which can be, for example, part of thehardware of system 100, includes a processing unit 1014, a system memory1016, and a system bus 1018. System bus 1018 couples system componentsincluding, but not limited to, system memory 1016 to processing unit1014. Processing unit 1014 can be any of various available processors.Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures also can beemployed as processing unit 1014.

System bus 1018 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including a memory bus or a memory controller, a peripheral bus or anexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics, VESA Local Bus (VLB), PeripheralComponent Interconnect, Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), AdvancedGraphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card InternationalAssociation bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and Small ComputerSystems Interface (SCSI).

System memory 1016 can include volatile memory 1020 and nonvolatilememory 1022. A basic input/output system (BIOS), containing routines totransfer information between elements within computer 1012, such asduring start-up, can be stored in nonvolatile memory 1022. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1022 can includeROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or flash memory. Volatile memory 1020 includesRAM, which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as SRAM, dynamic RAM(DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM),enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), Rambus direct RAM(RDRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and Rambus dynamic RAM(RDRAM).

Computer 1012 can also include removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. FIG. 10 illustrates, forexample, disk storage 1024. Disk storage 1024 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tapedrive, flash memory card, or memory stick. In addition, disk storage1024 can include storage media separately or in combination with otherstorage media including, but not limited to, an optical disk drive suchas a compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive),CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive(DVD-ROM). To facilitate connection of the disk storage devices 1024 tosystem bus 1018, a removable or non-removable interface is typicallyused, such as interface 1026.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media or communications media, whichtwo terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.

Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structureddata, or unstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include,but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical diskstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible media which can beused to store desired information. In this regard, the term “tangible”herein as may be applied to storage, memory or computer-readable media,is to be understood to exclude only propagating intangible signals perse as a modifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standardstorage, memory or computer-readable media that are not only propagatingintangible signals per se. In an aspect, tangible media can includenon-transitory media wherein the term “non-transitory” herein as may beapplied to storage, memory or computer-readable media, is to beunderstood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as amodifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standard storage,memory or computer-readable media that are not only propagatingtransitory signals per se. For the avoidance of doubt, the term“computer-readable storage device” is used and defined herein to excludetransitory media. Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by oneor more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via access requests,queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety of operationswith respect to the information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

It can be noted that FIG. 10 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and computer resources described in suitableoperating environment 1000. Such software includes an operating system1028. Operating system 1028, which can be stored on disk storage 1024,acts to control and allocate resources of computer system 1012. Systemapplications 1030 take advantage of the management of resources byoperating system 1028 through program modules 1032 and program data 1034stored either in system memory 1016 or on disk storage 1024. It is to benoted that the disclosed subject matter can be implemented with variousoperating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands or information into computer 1012 throughinput device(s) 1036. As an example, mobile device and/or portabledevice can include a user interface embodied in a touch sensitivedisplay panel allowing a user to interact with computer 1012. Inputdevices 1036 include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such asa mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick,game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera,digital video camera, web camera, cell phone, smartphone, tabletcomputer, etc. These and other input devices connect to processing unit1014 through system bus 1018 by way of interface port(s) 1038. Interfaceport(s) 1038 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, a universal serial bus (USB), an infrared port, a Bluetoothport, an IP port, or a logical port associated with a wireless service,etc. Output device(s) 1040 use some of the same type of ports as inputdevice(s) 1036.

Thus, for example, a USB port can be used to provide input to computer1012 and to output information from computer 1012 to an output device1040. Output adapter 1042 is provided to illustrate that there are someoutput devices 1040 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among otheroutput devices 1040, which use special adapters. Output adapters 1042include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide means of connection between output device 1040 andsystem bus 1018. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems ofdevices provide both input and output capabilities such as remotecomputer(s) 1044.

Computer 1012 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1044. Remote computer(s) 1044 can be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, cloud storage, cloud service, a workstation, amicroprocessor based appliance, a peer device, or other common networknode and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed relative to computer 1012.

For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1046 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1044. Remote computer(s) 1044 islogically connected to computer 1012 through a network interface 1048and then physically connected by way of communication connection 1050.Network interface 1048 encompasses wire and/or wireless communicationnetworks such as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN).LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), CopperDistributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ring and the like.WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links,circuit-switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks(ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and DigitalSubscriber Lines (DSL). As noted below, wireless technologies may beused in addition to or in place of the foregoing.

Communication connection(s) 1050 refer(s) to hardware/software employedto connect network interface 1048 to bus 1018. While communicationconnection 1050 is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer 1012,it can also be external to computer 1012. The hardware/software forconnection to network interface 1048 can include, for example, internaland external technologies such as modems, including regular telephonegrade modems, cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernetcards.

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subjectdisclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the preciseforms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are describedherein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possiblethat are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples,as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.

In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described inconnection with various embodiments and corresponding Figures, whereapplicable, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can beused or modifications and additions can be made to the describedembodiments for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitutefunction of the disclosed subject matter without deviating therefrom.Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to anysingle embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed inbreadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.

As it employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures suchas, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors,switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhanceperformance of user equipment. A processor may also be implemented as acombination of computing processing units.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “layer,” “selector,” “interface,” and the like are intendedto refer to a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, both anapplication running on a server and the server can be a component. Oneor more components may reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media, device readablestorage devices, or machine readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate via localand/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having oneor more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting withanother component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). Asanother example, a component can be an apparatus with specificfunctionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric orelectronic circuitry, which is operated by a software or firmwareapplication executed by a processor, wherein the processor can beinternal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part ofthe software or firmware application. As yet another example, acomponent can be an apparatus that provides specific functionalitythrough electronic components without mechanical parts, the electroniccomponents can include a processor therein to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms like “user equipment (UE),” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “subscriber equipment,” “access terminal,”“terminal,” “handset,” and similar terminology, refer to a wirelessdevice utilized by a subscriber or user of a wireless communicationservice to receive or convey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming,or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoingterms are utilized interchangeably in the subject specification andrelated drawings. Likewise, the terms “access point (AP),” “basestation,” “NodeB,” “evolved Node B (eNodeB),” “home Node B (HNB),” “homeaccess point (HAP),” “cell device,” “sector,” “cell,” and the like, areutilized interchangeably in the subject application, and refer to awireless network component or appliance that serves and receives data,control, voice, video, sound, gaming, or substantially any data-streamor signaling-stream to and from a set of subscriber stations or providerenabled devices. Data and signaling streams can include packetized orframe-based flows.

Additionally, the terms “core-network”, “core”, “core carrier network”,“carrier-side”, or similar terms can refer to components of atelecommunications network that typically provides some or all ofaggregation, authentication, call control and switching, charging,service invocation, or gateways. Aggregation can refer to the highestlevel of aggregation in a service provider network wherein the nextlevel in the hierarchy under the core nodes is the distribution networksand then the edge networks. UEs do not normally connect directly to thecore networks of a large service provider but can be routed to the coreby way of a switch or radio area network. Authentication can refer todeterminations regarding whether the user requesting a service from thetelecom network is authorized to do so within this network or not. Callcontrol and switching can refer determinations related to the futurecourse of a call stream across carrier equipment based on the callsignal processing. Charging can be related to the collation andprocessing of charging data generated by various network nodes. Twocommon types of charging mechanisms found in present day networks can beprepaid charging and postpaid charging. Service invocation can occurbased on some explicit action (e.g. call transfer) or implicitly (e.g.,call waiting). It is to be noted that service “execution” may or may notbe a core network functionality as third party network/nodes may takepart in actual service execution. A gateway can be present in the corenetwork to access other networks. Gateway functionality can be dependenton the type of the interface with another network.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer,”“prosumer,” “agent,” and the like are employed interchangeablythroughout the subject specification, unless context warrants particulardistinction(s) among the terms. It should be appreciated that such termscan refer to human entities or automated components (e.g., supportedthrough artificial intelligence, as through a capacity to makeinferences based on complex mathematical formalisms), that can providesimulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

Aspects, features, or advantages of the subject matter can be exploitedin substantially any, or any, wired, broadcast, wirelesstelecommunication, radio technology or network, or combinations thereof.Non-limiting examples of such technologies or networks include Geocasttechnology; broadcast technologies (e.g., sub-Hz, ELF, VLF, LF, MF, HF,VHF, UHF, SHF, THz broadcasts, etc.); Ethernet; X.25; powerline-typenetworking (e.g., PowerLine AV Ethernet, etc.); femto-cell technology;Wi-Fi; Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); EnhancedGeneral Packet Radio Service (Enhanced GPRS); Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP or 3G) LTE; 3GPP Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) or 3GPP UMTS; Third GenerationPartnership Project 2 (3GPP2) Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB); High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA); High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); HighSpeed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA); GSM Enhanced Data Rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE) Radio Access Network (RAN) or GERAN; UMTS TerrestrialRadio Access Network (UTRAN); or LTE Advanced.

What has been described above includes examples of systems and methodsillustrative of the disclosed subject matter. It is, of course, notpossible to describe every combination of components or methods herein.One of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many furthercombinations and permutations of the disclosure are possible.Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,”“possesses,” and the like are used in the detailed description, claims,appendices and drawings such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. Aerial user equipment, comprising: a processor;and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed bythe processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:receiving, from core network equipment, an instruction to travel from afirst geographic location to a second geographic location, wherein thesecond geographic location has been determined, by the core networkequipment, as representing a hotspot location; in response to thereceiving, traveling from the first geographic location to the hotspotlocation; based on arriving at the hotspot location initiating executionof a user equipment relay process that transitions the aerial userequipment from being user equipment to being aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment; and transmitting to the core network equipment thatthe user equipment relay process has been successfully initiated.
 2. Theaerial user equipment of claim 1, wherein the instruction is a firstinstruction, and wherein the operations further comprise receiving, fromthe core network equipment, a second instruction that directs the aerialhybrid user and network equipment to reject attachment requests receivedfrom user equipment located in the hotspot area.
 3. The aerial userequipment of claim 1, wherein the instruction is a first instruction,and wherein the operations further comprise receiving, from the corenetwork equipment, a second instruction that directs the aerial hybriduser and network equipment to reject handover requests received fromuser equipment located in the hotspot area.
 4. The aerial user equipmentof claim 1, wherein the instruction is a first instruction, and whereinthe operations further comprise receiving, from the core networkequipment, a second instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment to reject attachment requests received from networkequipment located in the hotspot area.
 5. The aerial user equipment ofclaim 1, wherein the instruction is a first instruction, and wherein theoperations further comprise receiving, from the core network equipment,a second instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user and networkequipment to reject handover requests received from network equipmentlocated in the hotspot area.
 6. The aerial user equipment of claim 1,wherein the instruction is a first instruction, and wherein theoperations further comprise receiving, from the core network equipment,a second instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user and networkequipment to transmit international mobile subscriber identity dataassociated with user equipment that attempts attachment to the aerialhybrid user and network equipment.
 7. The aerial user equipment of claim1, wherein the instruction is a first instruction, and wherein theoperations further comprise receiving, from the core network equipment,a second instruction that directs the aerial hybrid user and networkequipment to transmit international mobile subscriber identity data andsource-cell-ID data associated with user equipment and network equipmentthat attempts handover to the aerial hybrid user and network equipment.8. The aerial user equipment of claim 1, wherein the instruction is afirst instruction, and wherein the operations further comprisereceiving, from the core network equipment, a second instruction thatcomprises a physical cell identity value for the to use, wherein thephysical cell identity value distinguishes the aerial hybrid user andnetwork equipment from equipment located in the hotspot area.
 9. Corenetwork equipment, comprising: a processor; and a memory that storesexecutable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitateperformance of operations, comprising: determining, based on measurementreport data returned by equipment situated within a defined geographicarea, that the equipment is in a traffic overload state; in response todetermining that the equipment in the defined geographic area are in thetraffic overload state, designating the defined geographic area as beinga hotspot area; facilitating aerial user equipment located in a firstgeographic area to travel to the hotspot area; receiving confirmation,from the aerial user equipment, that the aerial user equipment hascrossed over a threshold peripheral boundary that demarcates the hotspotarea and that the aerial user equipment has transitioned from being theaerial user equipment to being aerial network equipment; facilitatingthe aerial network equipment to reject attempts, from equipment locatedwithin the hotspot area, to attach to the aerial network equipment; andtransmitting, to the aerial network equipment, physical cell identitydata representative of the unique identity value, wherein the uniqueidentity value distinguishes the aerial network equipment from theequipment located within the hotspot area.
 10. The core networkequipment of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprisedetermining that the equipment located in the hotspot area is in theoverload state based on returned signal strength indicator data, signalto noise data, received channel to power indicator data, and referencesignal received power data.
 11. The core network equipment of claim 9,wherein the operations further comprise facilitating the aerial userequipment to transition to the aerial network equipment by causing theaerial user equipment to initiate execution of a relay process.
 12. Thecore network equipment of claim 9, wherein the operations furthercomprise facilitating the aerial network equipment to change altitudesfrom a first altitude value to a second altitude value to reduce numberof reported source-cell-ID associated to neighboring equipment locatedin the hotspot area.
 13. The core network equipment of claim 9, whereinthe operations further comprise facilitating the aerial networkequipment to relocate from a first area within the hotspot area to asecond area within the hotspot area.
 14. The core network equipment ofclaim 9, wherein the hotspot area is represented as a group of globalpositioning satellite coordinates that indicate a boundary thatsurrounds that hotspot area.
 15. The core network equipment of claim 9,wherein the unique identity value is reserved for use by the aerialnetwork equipment in instances when the core network equipmentidentifies the traffic overload state.
 16. The core network equipment ofclaim 9, wherein the unique identity value is randomly assigned to theaerial network equipment in instance when the core network equipmentidentifies the traffic overload state.
 17. The core network equipment ofclaim 9, wherein the unique identity value is a first identity value,and wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a secondidentity value that replaces the first identity on the aerial networkequipment, wherein the second identity is selected by collectinginternational mobile subscriber identity data associated with a userequipment that attempts attachment or handover to the equipment andcollecting source-cell-ID data from neighboring equipment,cross-correlating the international subscriber identity data and thesource-cell-ID data to generate, based on the source-cell-ID data, aunique list of source-cell-ID neighboring equipment located in hotspotarea, and wherein, the second identity is selected based on determiningthat no additional source-cell-ID is associated with the neighboringequipment within the hotspot area that have been reported back via theaerial network equipment within a defined duration of time.
 18. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performanceof operations, comprising: receiving, from core network equipment, aninstruction to travel from a first geographic location to a secondgeographic location, wherein the second geographic location has beendetermined, by the core network equipment, as representing a hotspotlocation; traveling from the first geographic location to the hotspotlocation; based on crossing a boundary associated with the hotspotlocation, initiating execution of a user equipment relay process thattransitions the aerial user equipment from being user equipment to beingaerial network equipment; and transmitting to the core network equipmentthat the user equipment relay process has been successfully initiated.19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein thefirst geographic location is represented as a first collection ofgeo-location values.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 18, wherein the second geographic location is represented as asecond collection of geo-location values.